Note 7: The Exploding Smartphone

The Galaxy Note 7 was one of the most highly anticipated devices this year. It was released recently and many of us were thoroughly impressed with the device. From its design to its performance, it had many of us wanting to buy the phone that seems to be at the top of the phablet game.

However, since its launch, the negative press the company has been receiving due to the battery ‘issues’ has been catastrophic.

It all started when there were reports of the phone exploding due to the battery overheating. However, this was only a few phones out of many that had been sold by Samsung. But as time has gone by, more and more users have been reporting the same issue of batteries exploding.

Samsung inevitably announced that they would allow users to swap their current Galaxy Note 7 for a new device. Since then, sales of the Galaxy Note 7 have been put on hold, the phone has not been available to purchase and all existing consumers have been told that they need to send back their devices so that Samsung can rectify the issue. In the US, companies like T-Mobile have stopped sales of the device and are offering users alternative models like the Galaxy S6 Edge or the Galaxy S7.

Since the 1st of September there has been around 35 cases of the Galaxy Note 7 battery exploding which is why the company has decided to take action. Here in the UK and in other places around the world, the company has issued a replacement scheme allowing you to get a brand new Galaxy Note 7, which is a lot safer.

The new batch of devices are said to have an “S” sticker on to let users know they are using a safe model. Also when the battery icon in the notification bar will be green for the new batch of Note 7’s compared to the older devices which have a white battery indicator.

It’s very brave of Samsung to address the issue and have a global recall of the device. But has the damage already been done? It is said that the cost of this whole situation is said to be around “$1billion” with the company having to sell its stakes in four businesses so it can focus on its main division.

Below you can read Samsung’s full statement regarding the Note 7 battery fiasco:

Samsung is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously. In response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note 7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue.

To date (as of September 1) there have been 35 cases that have been reported globally and we are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. However, because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note 7.

For customers who already have Galaxy Note 7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks.

We acknowledge the inconvenience this may cause in the market but this is to ensure that Samsung continues to deliver the highest quality products to our customers. We are working closely with our partners to ensure the replacement experience is as convenient and efficient as possible.